World’s most powerful passports for 2022 revealed

As the global Covid-19 pandemic enters another year, here’s how valuable Australia’s passport really is in 2022.

less than 2 min read

January 12, 2022 - 2:26PM

This is how Australia’s passport ranks around the world in 2022.

While the passport doesn’t feel all that powerful for anyone at the moment, citizenship firm Henley and Partners — which periodically ranks passports according to the level of travel freedom they allow citizens — has published its first index of 2022.

The January ranking saw Japan and Singapore in number one spot, with citizens allowed to visit 192 destinations, and Germany and South Korea in second position with 190 destinations.

This year’s index revealed “record-breaking” levels of freedom for the top passport holders in Japan and Singapore.

The world’s most powerful passports for 2022 have been revealed.

Finland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain came in equal third position, while New Zealand and the United States of America snuck in ahead of Australia in sixth spot.

With 185 destinations able to be visited, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Greece, Malta came in at seventh position.

At the other end of the list, the lowest ranked passport — being Afghanistan — is recognised by just 26 countries for automatic entry. This represents the largest gap in mobility since the passport power rankings was first compiled 17 years ago.

“This deepening divide in international mobility between wealthier countries and poorer ones was brought into sharp focus late last year with the arrival of the highly infectious Omicron variant,” said Henley & Partners.

Henley and Partners’ ranking assesses 199 of the world’s passports and takes into account developments in visa agreements between jurisdictions around the world.

The Index was first published 17 years ago and in a summary of the latest findings it notes a growing disparity in travel access since then.